Islamabad: The federal government on Sunday announced that the 1,320MW coal-based power plant developed by the China Power Hub Generation Company (CPHGC) had successfully begun its commercial operations in Hub, according to a news source.

Developed in record time and within the projected budget, the power plant is an early harvest of the energy projects initiated under the CPEC framework – according to an official notification issued by the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA). It said that the CPHGC had successfully performed the commissioning test and the firm’s engineer had certified the successful commissioning of the complex.

The commercial operation date (COD) declared by the power producer is August 17, 2019, according to the CPPA. The certificate of initial tested capacity came out at 1,249 megawatts (MW). The CPPA later called upon National Power Control Centre (NPCC) to issue dispatch instructions heedful of the system requirements to the CPHGC.

In a separate announcement made by the CPHGC, the firm declared the COD of this 1,320 MW (2x660) imported coal-fired plant and integrated jetty that offers an annuak coal transhipment capacity of 4.2 million tonnes.

The CPHGC is a joint venture of the Hub Power Company Limited (HUBCO) and the China Power International Holding (CPIH). The project was approved in November 2014 by the federal government and the letter of intent was issued in 2015.

HUBCO produces 2,920MW power from its four plants, dotted across Balochistan, Punjab, and Azad Jammu & Kashmir. The power generation capacity of the HUBCO is likely to exceed 3,580MW after the completion of its other three under construction power projects; including Thar Energy Limited (TEL), Thalnova Power Thar (Pvt) Ltd and Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) at Thar Block II, making HUBCO the only power producer in Pakistan with four CPEC projects.